If you’re in the first group, you’re top of the pile and everybody loves you, especially the Labour Ministry. The second group allows for different levels of compliance, and the third group is where you go if you’re an altogether unpleasant employer. It’s not clear if anything happens to you in the third category – presumably you’re told to try harder and everybody knows how bad you are. A black points system for violations could see companies downgraded and almost certainly fined for each offence.

In true HR speak Minister of Labour Saqr Gobash Saeed Gobash said his ministry is keen to create a balanced working environment that stimulates economic growth and facilitates the process of productivity through a sound management of skilled human capital. “Our ethical and legal mandate requires us to strive to explore and roll out mechanisms that embody the sincere commitment of the political leadership to put in place a safe and stable environment and to protect rights of all categories in the community.”

“The new classification system was designed after consultation with prominent local labour market experts and embraced best practices from experiences of international community and neighbouring countries,” he continued. “While the old system revolved primarily on the cultural diversity mix in firms, the new one allows the firm to move higher on the classification scale giving them a slew of rewards based on their commitment to certain standards like Emiratisation, wages and housing.”

What are these rewards? Where’s the incentive? We can’t quite see a carrot, though we guess the fines represent some sort of stick…

Efforts to strengthen labour law and police unscrupulous companies are always welcome in Kipp’s book, but policies like this one should really be clearer if they are to be effective.